In November 2021, after a Christmas party in Oslo, Norway, approximately 70 per cent of the 111 interviewed guests were diagnosed with COVID-19. This and many other super-spreader events supported what some scientists had been saying since the start of the pandemic: COVID is airborne.
When an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks or simply breathes, they release saliva droplets of various sizes containing infectious particles. Droplets larger than 100 microns fall down in seconds, typically within a two-meter radius. Another person can then contract the infection either by allowing droplets to land on their mucous membranes or by transferring the virus from their hands to the mucous membranes after touching a contaminated surface. In the first year of the pandemic, the World Health Organization and other public health agencies focused on this sort of large-droplet transmission. Thus, their messaging emphasized sanitizing hands and surfaces, physical distancing, installing Plexiglas, wearing cloth masks and avoiding touching the face.
By mid-2021, however, mounting evidence showed that COVID-19 was primarily spreading through aerosol transmission, which means it can transmit through the air via suspended respiratory fluid droplets smaller than 100 microns. These aerosols are light enough to remain suspended for hours, and can travel more than six feet.
By December 2021, the WHO finally conceded that the COVID-19 virus is airborne. This meant that guidelines based on droplet transmission — such as standing six feet apart and wearing cloth masks — were inadequate infection prevention strategies. In spaces with poor ventilation and minimal air filtration, aerosols build up and persist over time, similar to cigarette smoke. They are then easily inhaled through gaps in face masks...
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